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MESA Board Statement Affirming Commitment to Fight Antisemitism as a Form of Racism

(San Antonio, TX—November 15, 2018) The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) issued the following statement on antisemitism at the start of its 52nd Annual Meeting:

Over the last two years MESA proudly partnered with HIAS, the International Refugee Assistant Project, and individual plaintiffs to challenge President Trump’s Muslim Ban. Represented by ACLU, our collective case went to the Supreme Court. We did not stop the ban; we succeeded at tempering it in our collective stance against all forms of racism and xenophobia.

MESA wishes to express solidarity with our partners at HIAS. We strongly condemn the antisemitic attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue on 27 October 2018. When the attacker killed eleven people at worship, he targeted these victims as well as HIAS’s spirit of advocating on behalf of refugees and against racism in all its forms.

MESA is committed to fighting antisemitism as a form of racism that targets Jewish people. We also reject efforts to falsely conflate antisemitism and critique of the state of Israel.

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